Since last fall, Eritrean Catholics in the Arlington diocese have been praying for peace and an end to religious persecution in their home country.
Some of those prayers were answered a few days after Christmas when an Eritrean bishop and priest, Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim and Father Mihreteab Estifanos, were released from prison in Eritrea’s capital city, Asmara, after being arrested in October and held for 75 days.
“Our bishop and our priest have been freed,” said Father Hagos Tesfagabir, one of a dozen Eritrean Catholic priests serving communities in the U.S. and Canada. He has served the local Eritrean community for eight years, celebrating Ge’ez Rite Masses for the area’s large Eritrean Catholic community at Holy Spirit Church in Annandale, where he is in residence.
Father Tesfagabir was cautiously optimistic that the release of the two clergymen could be a positive sign for peace in the region. “Yes, I hope,” he said before Mass Jan. 8 at Holy Spirit, where approximately 100 parishioners gathered.
Typically about 300 attend the Sunday afternoon Masses, many coming from Washington, Maryland and beyond. He and others said many community members drive a long way to attend and about 400 had been there Friday for what parishioner Biniam Hagos of Alexandria called “the second Christmas” — Ge’ez Rite churches follow the Eastern Catholic calendar, celebrating Christmas Jan. 6. The community is planning a move to a more central location in Maryland, but Father Tesfagabir said he is not sure when that will happen.
The Eritrean Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with the Vatican. There are 168,000 members in the small northeastern African country and around the world. Catholics make up about 4 percent of Eritrea’s 6.5 million people.
Parishes across the Arlington diocese offered prayers for the people of Eritrea and others facing threats to religious freedom on the World Day of Peace, Jan. 1. “In these challenging times, it is even more important to stand and proclaim the truth, trusting the Lord to provide wisdom and strength,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, in a November letter to the community.
Religious persecution in Eritrea has been going on for years, wrote Father Tesfaldet T Tsada, Apostolic Visitor and a leader of Eritrean Catholic clergy in North America, in a November letter to U.S. bishops.
After gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1991, “the Eritrean government was initially hailed as a democratic reformer,” he said. “Within a decade, however, the government began systematically stripping away personal, religious, and political freedom. … Religious practice is highly restricted, and many believers are persecuted.”
In 2019 the Eritrean government seized and closed more than 20 health clinics owned and operated by the Catholic Church, he said, and in August 2022, seized and shut down Catholic schools.
Governments around the world had called for the release of the detained clergymen. Other clergy also have been arrested in recent years, and some died in prison. Patriarch Abune Antonios, 94, of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, died Feb. 9, 2022, while in detention. He had been held for 16 years after resisting orders to excommunicate thousands of church members.
Most Christian churches were shut down two decades ago and today only Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran churches and Sunni Muslim mosques have the legal authority to operate, but with many restrictions.
Although the government did not give reasons for the arrests, media reports said observers believe Bishop Tsalim was detained for criticizing forced youth recruitment for the civil war in the neighboring Tigray region of Ethiopia. The Eritrean government sided with the Ethiopian government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The war recently ended with the negotiation of a peace agreement, and according to news reports, the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray is now being discussed.
Since the war began in November 2020, the conflict has killed thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands have been put at risk of famine and millions have been displaced from their homes.
Holy Spirit parishioner Biniam Hagos said he has family in Eritrea and was able to visit last year without incident.
As for the community’s pending move, he said he likes meeting in Virginia because it’s more convenient to his Alexandria home, but he understands that Maryland would be a more central location for most of the community. He said even after the move takes place, the community in Virginia will still participate in Multicultural Ministry events in the Arlington diocese.
Contributing: Catholic News Service, Catholic News Agency
